Increasing HDL May Curb Coronary Disease

MARCH 01, 2005

Individuals with low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL; "good")
cholesterol and heart disease may benefit from treatment targeted at
raising HDL levels. For the 30-month study, 143 retired military personnel
with heart disease and low HDL were randomly assigned to a
placebo treatment or aggressive HDL-cholesterol-raising therapy with
gemfibrozil, niacin, and cholestyramine. The participants also had diet
and exercise counseling.

The study's findings showed that the participants in the active treatment
group had a 20% decrease in total cholesterol, a 36% rise in
HDL cholesterol, a 26% reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL;
"bad") cholesterol, and a 50% fall in triglycerides, compared with the
placebo group. Improvement in the narrowing of the coronary arteries
increased by 0.8% in the individuals on active therapy, compared with
a decrease of 1.4% in the placebo group. The researchers also determined
that significantly more individuals on the placebo therapy than
active therapy (26% vs 13%) had a heart attack, stroke, or the need
for heart surgery. Reporting their findings in the Annals of InternalMedicine (January 18, 2005), the researchers noted that there is no
evidence whether the improvements were due to reductions in LDL or
increases in HDL cholesterol.